The sheets of paper seemed to be everywhere the lawmakers went in the Green Zone, distributed to Iraqi officials, U.S. officials and uniformed military of no particular rank. So when Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) asked a soldier last weekend just what he was holding, the congressman was taken aback to find out.

In the soldier's hand was a thumbnail biography, distributed before each of the congressmen's meetings in Baghdad, which let meeting participants such as that soldier know where each of the lawmakers stands on the war. "Moran on Iraq policy," read one section, going on to cite some the congressman's most incendiary statements, such as, "This has been the worst foreign policy fiasco in American history."

The bio of Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D-Calif.) -- "TAU (rhymes with 'now')-sher," the bio helpfully relates -- was no less pointed, even if she once supported the war and has taken heat from liberal Bay Area constituents who remain wary of her position. "Our forces are caught in the middle of an escalating sectarian conflict in Iraq, with no end in sight," the bio quotes.

"This is beyond parsing. This is being slimed in the Green Zone," Tauscher said of her bio.

Read the whole story at the link above. How is it "being slimed" if you are quoted accurately? Do these antiwar Congressmen think the troops don't know who supports them and who does not? Or do they just wish that a Cone of Silence was over the military, so they couldn't hear what Congress was saying?

The "slime" is all yours, ye feckless fools of Congress.

Another part of the story, guaranteed to warm the cockles of your heart (unless you're one of the feckless, of course), was highlighted by Don Surber:

The troops are human beings. They do not like being pawns in partisan games. Moran and Tauscher are part of a clique of Democratic politicians who want us to lose in Iraq so they can gain on Republicans.

Most Americans see through this charade.

So, apparently do the troops and the Iraqi politicians.

When Moran and company wanted to meet with Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, he kept his TV showing children's cartoons.

Him, I like.

Yeah, me too, Don! Mowie was certainly more likely to gain something useful from a cartoon than from speaking with that blithering idiot Jim Moran. (Read the whole post at the link preceding).

Jay Tea adds: I was going to comment on this story, too, but Addison beat me to it. My first thought was that this whole thing -- telling the truth about someone, quoting their own words, and having it called a smear -- sounded vaguely familiar.

"ThinkProgress spoke with one of the delegation's military escorts, Maj. Toby Patterson, who said that he didn't know who made the bios or why they were created in the first place. He added that his office, the Marine Corps liaison for the U.S. House of Representatives, usually just uses lawmakers' readily-available bios off of congressionalquarterly.com."

Yes, who did make those bios? Why didn't the bios include actions and statement that have supported the troops such as this:
"On Aug. 2, Tauscher voted in favor of her own bill, which mandates that troops be granted a leave from combat at least as long as their last combat deployment before being shipped back to Iraq. That vote might have been a little too popular with the soldiers she was meeting, Tauscher said."

Look at lefties squeal when soldiers defend themselves. If they hadn't been disempowered illegitimately by MSM, stuff like this would not happen.

You damnable hypocrites. Traitorous bastards. I'm getting worked up but Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy are two of the worst with the Hsus she's fitting and the Saddams to whom he is salaaming.
===========================

It may be a stretch, Barney, but I have this idea that the bio was prepared by someone in uniform in Iraq, for someone in uniform in Iraq, and that since none of the people in uniform in Iraq seemed to mind it or be ashamed of it, that the people not in uniform need to think less often about opinion of people not in uniform, and more often about the opinion of the people in uniform who serve in Iraq.

Barney
"On Aug. 2, Tauscher voted in favor of her own bill, which mandates that troops be granted a leave from combat at least as long as their last combat deployment before being shipped back to Iraq. That vote might have been a little too popular with the soldiers she was meeting, Tauscher said."

You must think us soldiers are as dumb as Kerry said we were. That amendment is obviously an attempt to hurt the militaries ability and deployment options.

Some personnel volunteer for multiple tours. Some key personnel need a short turn around. If the situation turns sour, there may be a need to return personel quickly. The reasons go on and on why such a constarint hurts the military and in turn hurts the soldiers.

These weasel politicians complain when they find themselves in front of a real live soldier that may just have an opinion? There's a place where Moran and Tauscher can shove it...right up their trousers.

I'm amazed at the restraint and professional behaviour of our troops all the while they are being slimed stateside while their lives are at risk protecting us. This is Exhibit A in how out of touch these Liberals actually are.

The bios also serve to warn soldiers not to say anything that will offend the congresspersons.

Still, a person would think that someone would be willing to own up to their statements from one situation to another. And we keep on getting told that public announcements that the war is lost is not at all failing to support the troops... so what is the harm? Why should the troops mind at all, huh?

"BG2, you make the mistake of assuming Toby is the only one in uniform over there." by kim

No I am not. According to the story: He (the Major) added that his office, the Marine Corps liaison for the U.S. House of Representatives, usually just uses lawmakers' readily-available bios off of congressionalquarterly.com." He stated earlier that he did not who did produce the bios.

That says his office did not produce the bios, and I want to know who did.

wayne, it is not whether the service men would or would not find the vote popular. It is about cherry picking actions and quotes that slant in one way or another.

Also, why weren't the Congressmen/women given a copy of the bios? Sounds kind of Rovian to me.

BarneyFife: "He (the Major) added that his office, the Marine Corps liaison for the U.S. House of Representatives, usually just uses lawmakers' readily-available bios off of congressionalquarterly.com." He stated earlier that he did not who did produce the bios.
"

"Usually" means that sometimes someone else does it, This appears to be such a time.

"I want to know who did"

As I said, the odds are pretty good it was one or more servicepersons in the U.S. Military serving in Iraq. And that none in the military complained about it, suggested the bios are supported by the people who get them.

Also, why weren't the Congressmen/women given a copy of the bios? Sounds
kind of Rovian to me.

Why would they need a copy of their own bios? Maybe they should just sew name-tags on their clothes instead . . .

Nell ~ Obviously you know as little about the military as does Tauscher. Our troops aren't in it for "their own self interest" like a bunch of leftists with their hands out; they are there to serve our country, and unlike you and Tauscher, understand that such decisions are best left to the command structure designed to make them, instead of to meddling politicians.

Think of the last movie you saw where someone dressed up in a General's uniform and bulldozed his or her way through security.

Got that picture in your head?

Okay, it won't happen. Important people, even (or most especially), those within the military do not go anywhere without word being sent ahead. Often unofficially. It's expected that warnings will go out and people will be prepared (even if they are acting like they didn't know) when the important person shows up.

So, to answer Barney... the culture is that these sorts of heads-up are unoffical *and* that they will contain uncomplimentary information so that soldiers can avoid accidentally pissing off the fellow who truly hates country music or has some other unreasonable quirk.

Including information about a Congressperson's statements about the war is entirely in line with this so that everyone knows not to jokingly reference the A**holes who... whatever. Same as including the proper pronunciation of an important person's name.

Letting the subjects of this see scads of little bio-flyers all over the place is a major oopsie and if anything that is what people will get in trouble for.

These anti-war demos like Moran and Tauscher don't have to worry what the military think of them. They'll probably be voting by absentee ballot and alGore can get them invalidated.

"On Aug. 2, Tauscher voted in favor of her own bill, which mandates that troops be granted a leave from combat at least as long as their last combat deployment before being shipped back to Iraq. That vote might have been a little too popular with the soldiers she was meeting, Tauscher said."

What does Tauscher know about Op-Tempo? All it was, was a blatant attempt at limiting the options for the military command structure to deploy and rotate troops. Something else some anti-war legislator dreamed up to try to hobble the President. She doesn't give a crap about how often the troops get deployed.

In the 90's, during the great Clinton military (pfffft!) we were supposed to have a 50/50 Op-Tempo. AFAIK, that wasn't legislated, that was DoD policy.

It was a policy driven by budget constraints and manpower end strength cuts.

It sounded good. It didn't often happen. And it didn't even matter when even when you're home, not deployed, you're working more than ever trying to make up shortfalls in manpower and reduced manning levels.

I didn't need a Representative Tauscher telling me when we should or should not be deploying. Military people can decide when it's too much. They decide with their feet at the end of their service obligations. That doesn't seem to be a problem right now.

Jim, because it is not their own bios. Their own bios are produced by their own staff, and those are generally distributed. These bios were created by someone else whom may have an agenda. At the very least the Congressmen should be aware of this and have had the opportunity to review what was included in the bios.

A Bio is written by someone else. There are "Official" Bios, and there are unofficial ones. I can guarantee that the little unofficial bios that get passed around (usually unwritten so they are deniable) in the military are NOT cleared by their subjects. The fact the CongressCritters were apprised of these bios suggests someone wanted to stick it in their faces without having to stick it in their face and get a reprimand from command. Which I hope will not happen. If it does, then these CongressCritters will have shown they really don't care about the tropps as much as they do for revenge for being called out for their true positions.

Yeah, there's been some slime in the Green Zone, but hopefully it was sent back to DC where it came from.

"I had never seen that in the past. That's new," said Porter, who was on his fourth trip to Iraq. "Now I want to see what they're saying about me," he added, when he learned of the contents of his travel companions' rap sheets."

Jim, because it is not their own bios. Their own bios are produced by their own staff, and those are generally distributed. These bios were created by someone else whom may have an agenda. At the very least the Congressmen should be aware of this and have had the opportunity to review what was included in the bios.

So what are ya sayin'?

That Congressmen should be aware of everything written about them, be it something similar to this incident, or in the media say in an editorial prior to it being made public?

Hmmm...maybe I am missing the point.
Is this being done with our Tax $$ or is it some "underground" thing?
37 years ago...in a different military theater...there was a lot of stuff being "passed around." However, most of it was from pissed of G.I.'s with access to a mimeograph machine (anyone remember those?)...and not from any official source.
However, our brave troops who put in 18 hour days...7 days a week...are not fooled...
They know more than any of us...the grind...the loss and grief with minimal results...
So I am not impressed by Dem whining or feeble justification from those here...
I just want them all to come back to their families...safely ...as soon as possible...
...and let the politicians...and no risk drum beaters here, take their place,
if they feel it is necessary.

marc... you have to remember... not all who see war come home the same... for so many... they leave a piece of themselves on the battlefield forever... and have to go through life incomplete... in nogo's case... the loss was especially tragic... he'll never be able to use a capital letter or complete a sentence again... war is hell...

I just want them all to come back to their families...safely ...as soon as possible...

And surprisingly enough nogo, so do they. Except they want to finish and return victorious.

...and let the politicians...and no risk drum beaters here, take their place,
if they feel it is necessary.

That just proves you are an idiot and nothing more than a clone of jfo, spewing almost ad-hom attacks because you're too chicken shit to call someone a chicken hawk.

As marc pointed out in #41, how do you explain the warriors who are in Iraq now keep reenlisting? Hope you aren't one of the lefty trolls who espouse the belief that they are just too stupid to know what they are doing and are dupes of a brainwashing campaign.

As marc pointed out in #41, how do you explain the warriors who are in Iraq now keep reenlisting? Hope you aren't one of the lefty trolls who espouse the belief that they are just too stupid to know what they are doing and are dupes of a brainwashing campaign.

Nah... he/she/it, may use the "they only sign up to receive the cash bonus" meme.

Well, nogo is agreeing with me (at least partly) so I'm going to agree with him.

I'll fuss next time he says something with greater fussing potential.

In fact, I'd far rather fuss about Barney and his insistence that Congress-critters are entitled to control their spin and avoid having their own words quoted in situations where it might make them slightly uncomfortable.